Constant Vigilance
by gomababe
Summary: When it becomes obvious that England's fairy friends are taking too much of an interest in Canada, Scotland steps in to teach the Dominion something to help.


A/N: Headcanon ahoy ladies and gents. In my mind Canada can see England's faeries since he's permanently half invisible and so quiet. The thing is Canada has really blonde hair and fairies aren't always nice creatures. In fact, they often make a habit of trying to steal children with golden hair away from their families. I can imagine England constantly keeping a _very_ close eye on his fairy friends when America still lived at home to stop them from stealing his precious colony away. Scotland was the one to keep an eye on Canada since England always seems to forget the poor boy even exists *pets him*. Anyways, onwards with the story.

...

Canada sighed as he watched England chase Australia around the kitchen,

"Get back here and apologise to India this instant young man!" England snapped as the young prison colony danced out of his reach once more. Australia laughed,

"Going to have to do better than that pops!" he called as he dashed out of the back door, still clutching the spider he had used to frighten India out of her wits with earlier. England cursed in Gaelic as he chased after the colony, fully intent on giving the boy a proper hiding when he caught up to him. Scotland ducked into the room, looking quite amused,

"Got tae gie the laddie credit fer originality at least." He chuckled. Canada shook his head,

"He's going to regret it when England finally catches him though." He replied; smiling as one of the many fairies living in the huge house flitted over to him with a giggle. Scotland scowled at the little creature and shooed it off,

"Awa' wi' ye." He told it sharply. The fairy glared right back at him, but flew off, the sound of it muttering under its breath sounding far more like the tinkling of a small bell. Canada gave his uncle a confused look,

"What was that for?" he asked. Scotland sighed,

"It was one o' England's fairies. They like playing tricks on folk a little too much, especially wee laddies wi' blonde hair." He explained. Canada shrugged,

"I'm not so 'wee' any more though Uncle Scotland." He reminded the older nation. Scotland smiled as he ruffled the Dominion's hair,

"Ach, I ken ye're no'." He chuckled, "But they're getting as bad as some o' mine are wi' France." Canada hummed a little,

"I'm guessing they think they can get away with it more since I can see them and England's busy with the other colonies." Scotland nodded,

"Aye that's pretty much the problem." He sighed, "I told England he wis bringin' too many weans home fer him tae handle, but does he listen?" Canada laughed,

"I don't think England will ever listen to you, Uncle Scotland." He replied. Scotland scowled as a few more fairies flitted over to them,

"I think we might need to sort this fairy problem oot though. I dinnae ken if England even kens ye have the Sight." He said. Canada shook his head,

"If he does, he's never said anything about it." Scotland snorted,

"Figures." He sighed, "C'mon then, I suppose I'd better get tae teachin' ye a few things seein' as England's no' likely tae time tae." Canada was quick to follow after his uncle, his curiosity now well and truly piqued. Wales raised an overly large eyebrow at the two of them as Scotland threw Canada his coat,

"And where do you two think you're going?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, "Dinner'll be ready in a couple of hours." Scotland rolled his eyes,

"We're only goin' out fer a wander Wales." He sighed irritably, "The place is gettin' too crowded and England's on the warpath again." Wales sighed,

"What's the little brat done this time? He asked, resigned to helping his younger brother chase the colony down so they'd all be at the table tonight. Canada smirked,

"He put one of his spiders in India's hair without her noticing until it had crawled halfway down her neck." He was quick to hide it at the look Wales was giving him, "I don't think it was dangerous though, I don't think Australia is quite that stupid." He added hurriedly. Wales huffed in irritation,

"Alright, whatever, just don't go wandering too far." He grumbled, wiping his hands on his apron. Scotland beamed at him,

"We'll no' be long." He assured his younger brother. Canada waved as the two of them finally left the chaos of their family life behind for a few hours.

...

Scotland had ended up taking Canada to the forest that grew nearby. The Scot looked about warily for a few moments before finally stopping in the middle of a clearing,

"This should be a quiet enough spot." He said, making one last check to ensure that there were no fairy rings about. Canada sat down on a rock that jutted out of the ground,

"You're being very cautious uncle Scotland." He noted. Scotland smiled as he sat down opposite the Dominion,

"I wouldn't normally be, but this is England's turf and his fae have a nasty habit o' stealin' folk like yersel' awa'. I dinnae really fancy tryin' tae explain that tae France when I next see him." He explained. Canada nodded,

"Have they tried it with papa before?" he asked. Scotland shrugged,

"Dinnae ken aboot England's lot, but I ken ma Unseelie tried it once. Took a few days tae get that sorted oot. It wis a nightmare." He shook his head, "They've never tried it on again though. They ken a lot better than tae mess aboot wi' my best pal." Canada actually looked quite concerned at that little revelation,

"Do you really think they'd try the same thing with me?" he asked. Scotland smiled at his nephew,

"Most definitely no' while I'm here, but since England's sae busy and I'm no' always hame, I think it's aboot high time ye learned to ward them off just tae be safe." Canada nodded, finally getting the bigger picture,

"That makes sense." He agreed, "So what's first?" he asked. Scotland leaned back a bit, using his arms to brace himself,

"Well the first bit's a pretty simple piece o' advice really." He said, "Ye should never, under any circumstances, gie oot yer Name." He said, "That's whit the fae use to get power o'er ye." Canada blinked in confusion,

"But that's kind of difficult since I get called by name all the time at home." Scotland chuckled and shook his head,

"No lad, no' that name. The one ye originally had, the one yer first people gied ye afore us lot frae Europe came along." Canada thought for a moment before he realised what Scotland was talking about,

"Oh that one." He muttered, "So if the fairies knew it they could use it against me?" he asked. Scotland nodded,

"Aye, fairies are a tricky lot. They use only names that are Truth itsel', it's what oor brand o' magic's based on." He explained, "The fae a' ken mines and ma brither's Names, but we've grown up wi' the fae and most o' them would never use them against us." Canada nodded, getting it so far,

"Have any of them tried though?" he asked. Scotland nodded,

"Oh aye, one or two of the darker variety tried in the Middle Ages. We were a' that much more isolated from even each other at the time so I didnae even ken it had happened until my fairies a' started yellin' at me to go help England oot." He chuckled, "They didnae need tae in the end, Merlin sorted the one causin' a' the trouble oot fer us." Canada frowned,

"Merlin? I thought that he was..."

"Just a legend?" Scotland finished for him, "Oor people have forgotten the whole thing, but it doesnae mean to say it didnae happen at a' lad." He told the dominion sternly, "It's one o' those things that we have to do tae protect them frae the darker fae goin' about." Canada looked at the floor sheepishly,

"Désolé." He muttered automatically in French. Scotland smiled,

"I'm sorry tae, lad. Ye didnae ken." He replied softly. Canada looked up at his uncle again as he clapped his hands, "Right, so now ye ken the maist basic precaution, the next bit's a bit trickier." Canada watched as Scotland got up to stretch. The older nation looked him over for a moment before motioning for the boy to stand as well. Canada did so and Scotland continued,

"Magic, particularly protective magic, is a lot more subtle than folk seem tae realise." He explained, "England likes to be a bit mair dramatic aboot it, but honestly, that's a' just fer show." He sighed. Canada snorted in amusement,

"Sounds a lot like England." He quipped. Scotland grinned at him,

Aye, well that's England fer ye." He chuckled, "Tae be honest ye're kindae halfway tae the next part anyway so ye might no' find it as difficult as, say, me or Ireland did." Canada sent his uncle a confused look,

"Halfway there already?" he asked. Scotland nodded,

"Ye've ended up inheritin' whatever it is that makes Wales easily forgotten aboot and turned it up ten times." He explained, "Fae are easily distracted, but it's even better if ye can get them to not notice you at all. I tend no' tae bother wi' this stuff unless absolutely necessary so I might be a tad rusty here, but I think you could put it tae better use than I ever could anyway." Canada nodded, watching as his uncle whistled sharply. It only took a few moments for Nessie to appear seemingly out of nowhere. Scotland grinned as he patted the monster's nose,

"Ta fer comin' so quick lass." He told the plesiosaur like creature, "I dinnae really want to chance usin' any o' the fae that live doon here." Nessie cooed in agreement. Canada came over and patted the monster's nose as well,

"So I'll be practicing against Nessie?" he asked. Scotland nodded,

"Aye, she's a guid lassie and I trust her tae behave hersel'." He replied. Canada nodded and stood back as his uncle instructed the loch monster to sit in the middle of the clearing so the Dominion could watch first.

...

By the time Canada had managed to master the spell to Scotland's satisfaction, it was already starting to get dark. The Dominion looked up at the sky warily,

"I think we'd better be heading back before we miss dinner entirely uncle Scotland." He said. Scotland snorted as he followed his nephew's gaze,

"Aye, I suppose we'd better." He sighed, "I dinnae really fancy the argument I'm gonnae have wi' Wales when I get back though." He muttered. Canada patted his uncle's arm,

"We can always claim we got lost." He suggested, "After all, this is still England's house right? It would make sense that you wouldn't know your exact way around this forest."Scotland beamed down at his nephew,

"Mata, you are an absolute genius!" he exclaimed, "Ye've got a richt proper heid on those shoulders o' yours haven't ye?" he said, his accent slipping into something a little more north western. Canada laughed,

"Well, I try." He said sheepishly. Scotland grinned as he dismissed Nessie and started to lead himself and the Dominion home, taking care not to stray off the path. He really didn't want to put Matthew to a proper test of his ability right now, and he really didn't want to deal with England should something go wrong.

When the two nations finally made it out of the forest, they found England, Wales and India out of the house looking for them. India was the first to spot them, running up to Scotland and giving him a swift clip around the ear,

"Ow, hey, whit wis that fer?" Scotland yelped, yelping in a more unmanly manner as the Indian woman twisted his ear,

"This is for missing dinner and making the rest of us worry about where you and Canada were!" she snapped, glaring at the Scotsman, who was trying to get her to let go of his ear already. England and Wales looked up at the noise and rushed over. England sighed in relief,

"Oh thank God." He sighed, checking Canada over for any signs of discomfort or distress from the Dominion. Canada sighed and rolled his eyes slightly,

"I'm fine England, just hungry." He deadpanned as England hugged him. England finally let go and smiled weakly at the young man,

"Well, that's good. He said, "I was worried that something else might have happened and that you'd gotten hurt or something." Canada shook his head,

"No we just got a bit lost." He explained, "We did plan on coming back for dinner after our walk, but we lost the path on our way back." It always amazed Scotland as to how easily lying came to the young nation, but he wasn't about to complain,

"Aye, we just went oot fer a wander because it wis gettin' too noisy." He said, hissing as India didn't let up her grip on his ear, "Fer the love of Christ India, let that go a'ready." England nodded at the questioning look India gave him, and she let go of the red haired man's ear. Scotland fell back with another yelp, rubbing at his ear and muttering in Gaelic. England looked over to Wales and Canada,

"You three can go back inside, Canada you can get something to eat from what's left over." He said. Wales nodded and took the Dominion back inside, India trotting after them. Canada looked back briefly at his uncle with worry but was soon pushed indoors before he could see what happened next. England glared at Scotland,

"What the bloody hell were you thinking taking the boy into the woods?" he screamed, "And as if it wasn't bad enough you both wind up getting lost! Do you have any idea how worried I was when Matthew didn't turn up at dinner?" Scotland grumbled as he got up,

"I'm surprised ye even noticed he wisnae there to begin wi'." Scotland snapped back, "It's no' like ye notice the laddie at any other time." England swiftly slapped his brother across the cheek,

"Don't get snippy with me Scotland." He warned, "The fact that you were in the woods was bad enough, the fact that you strayed off the path just makes things even worse. Do you have any idea what might have happened if any of the fae got a hold of Matthew while he was in there?" Scotland glared at his brother,

"Aye, I ken just fine whit happens England. But it's no' like the laddie wis in there by himsel'." He reminded the empire, "Or are ye forgettin' that I've got mair experience o' this sort o' thing than you?" England stopped himself from slapping his brother again, he did have a point. Instead he settled for taking a deep breath,

"Alright, point made." He admitted, "But still, it was incredibly foolish of you to even wander in there. The fae that live in there aren't exactly the most pleasant lot, you know that." Scotland sighed,

"I ken lad, but Mata was wi' me the whole time an' I never let him oot o' my sight. Ye should ken by now that I'd never let anything anywhere near the laddie." England sent his brother a curious look before sighing again,

"I know; I just got worried when I felt someone using magic nearby. I thought that it was one of the darker things lurking in the area." Scotland, nodded before warily starting to make his way back to the house,

"I ken I'm in the doghouse right noo, but can I at least grab somethin' tae eat?" he asked. England glared at the red haired nation again,

"No," he said, "you can help India and Ireland clean up in the kitchen instead. Then after that maybe you can try to convince Australia to take a bath." The smirk that came onto England's face told Scotland all he needed to know about his chances of getting away with what he'd supposedly done. He sighed,

"A'right, a'right, point taken." He grumbled as he skulked back into the house, England following after him, smirk still in place. Scotland wondered, briefly, if he should let England know what really happened, then just as quickly decided against it. After all, Canada knew how to protect himself better now and it wasn't like England really _needed_ to know that the Dominion had the Sight. No, it was better keeping it quiet, at least for the boy's sanity.

Extra A/N: Unseelie would be Scotland's version of the dark Fae.


End file.
